Pakistani Behind Failed NYC Bombing Sentenced
VOA News 05 October 2010
A Pakistani-born U.S. citizen who tried to bomb New York City's Times Square has been sentenced to life in prison.
A federal judge in New York sentenced 31-year-old Faisal Shahzad Tuesday.
Shahzad pleaded guilty in June to 10 counts of weapons and terrorism charges. In court papers filed last week, prosecutors said Shahzad picked a spot in the busy entertainment district where he felt the bomb could inflict the most damage.
Prosecutors said if Shahzad not been captured, he planned to detonate another bomb in New York City two weeks later.
The Times Square bomb did not explode, and Shahzad was arrested two days after the May 1 attempt, aboard a jetliner preparing to fly from New York to Dubai.
Shahzad told the court he was a "Muslim soldier" and was prepared to "plead guilty a hundred times forward." He said he planned the attack because of U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan.
Shahzad, who lived and worked in the northeastern United States, admitted he received explosives training from Taliban operatives in Pakistan, along with $12,000 to fund the attack.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
